On Friday, following a call from a Cruz supporter making the case that the media has been treating Ted Cruz unfairly vis-à-vis Trump, Rush made a case that the media, broadcast and cable TV and others, have been “using” Trump to pump their own ratings and profits.

OK. So, given that the media is supposed to hate Republicans and support only Democrats, they are not totally stupid!

If they can make a buck they will make a buck especially when someone else, Trump, is doing all of the work.

It is called Capitalism.

People, Viewers, want to hear more Trump. The media are giving them what they want, more uncensored Trump!

And guess what, people watch, advertisers pour in, along with the $$$!

Rush commented that the Trump demand, (my comment, created by Trump) drives coverage, drives ratings and drives profits and it is a self-perpetuating circle. Rush said:

“You can get news in any way, shape manner or form. The network television guys and the cable news guys don’t own it anymore and, as such, they’ve suffered massive audience erosion — Fox News excluded here — and massive financial drain. So what has happened, they have found gold in Trump. Trump attracts and holds an audience like they can’t.”

“So they now know that eyeballs are watching them, and they’re doing it, and it’s happening because they’re carrying Trump, and so the beast feeds on itself. And if Trump is the reason for say, a cable news revival or a particular network revival, then more Trump is what we want. And then more Trump after that.” (1)

Rush was portraying the media’s pushing of “Trump Time” as being insincere and only being driven by viewership and profits. REALLY!! Of course the media will react to a cash cow when the cow walks into their pasture!

Rush, Capitalism and Loyalty:

I found Rush’s missives impugning the media’s profit motivation a bit disingenuous in light of his being FLUKED by his advertisers in 2012, then his subsequent welcoming back of those same advertisers today.

On February 29, 2012, Rush reacted, rightly so, to Sandra Fluke testifying before Congress in support of contraceptives being included in Obamacare. Rush referred to Fluke as a “prostitute” and a “slut”. Sandra Fluke was and still is a shill for the Left’s Women’s Rights movement. When you did the math regarding how much she paid per year for condoms, she was having sex 3 times a day! So, Rush’s characterization of Fluke was colorful but not without some merit but the media firestorm caused Limbaugh to lose over 100 advertisers over a short period of time.

Many of US, rushed to Rush’s side and stopped using many of those advertisers and I still refrain from doing so to this day. But, advertisers like Shari’s Berries, were welcomed back by Rush, I assume, for the purpose of increasing his profits!

That is perfectly fine with me but a little two-faced when he condemns the media for trying to increase their profits.

Trump is the master at creating media demand for himself, his candidacy and causes. No one is stopping the other candidates from emulating Trump’s tactics if they have the talent and MESSAGE. He expertly uses social media to create the demand then has huge events to drive interest and medial coverage. Trump is bigger than life and people, viewers, listeners and readers, can’t get enough. I dare say that Rush’s own audiences have increased due to the hyperbole surrounding the 2016 Republican Presidential race.

Would any broadcast or cable channel have had over 20,000,000 views for a televised debate without Trump? NOPE! The debate he skipped on Fox dropped to around 12,000,000 views when the other Fox debates drew in excess of 18,000,000 viewers.

I can just picture a Jeb, Rubio and Cruz debate drawing maybe 8,000,000 viewers, Maybe! Snore!

It is hard for Rush to view this race except through the prism that Cruz is a conservative and everyone else is not; Cruz is the best thing since sliced bread and everyone needs to see that; Cruz has been mal-treated and maligned by the GOP, media and Trump; Cruz is the only one qualified to be the President of the United States in this cycle.

But, Cruz cannot convince the GOP voters of this!

The other fact Rush left out when discussing the media and its quest for profits, is that the media today is no longer about news. The 24 hours per day “news cycle” is actually less than an hour of actual hard news and everything else is commentary or punditry! In other words, it is ENTERTAINMENT. Someone has to pay the bills to keep the lights on, like an “Obscene Profit Time Out”! (Rush’s phrase used when he has to take a commercial break)

The media now has to deal with free social media so the last thing the broadcast and cable media will do is kill the cash cow. Why analyze and try to tell audiences what Trump just said? We don’t need the media to interpret for us. We all speak English! We all know that the political season is all about sound bites with little substance. We see what the candidates have done in their lives, and can draw our own conclusions.

The only difference this year is someone, Trump, is making politics and current events and issues interesting!